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Clarity

Tara Gowland

Seattle, Washington

I work with early to mid stage startups needing advice and assistance with recruitment. I also provide advisory to recruiting technology startups (market analysis, target customers, making introductions, etc) and perform customer validation, market research and business development for emerging companies.

There are several ways but first you need to know who you are selling the product to. Corporate tech recruiters? Third party staffing folks? Contract tech recruiters? You will need to know who to target before I can lead you in the right direction. These are completely different markets!

If you're looking for Ruby folks, go where they go - local meetups. Second would be online but you will need to mine Stackoverflow, Github and similar sites and realize that they get approached regularly so start engaging early (at least 3 months before projected start date.)

You should have a solid pitch and be sure you have some initial interest from investors or first customers before even approaching someone to be a CEO of co-founder, as no one worth their salt will consider executing your ideas without proof of concept etc.

Maybe I don't know your situation, but why wouldn't you be willing to back it solely yourself or take the most risk if your ideas are so solid? If I was an investor or potential Co-Founder and you proposed this sort of arrangement, the next question would be "what kind of ownership and equity stake are you aiming for?" and "why not be at the helm of this thing?"

Essentially if you're looking for someone else to take the risk, put up the money, raise the funds or build the business, the question remains why? Are you am idea generator but not an executor? Are you not able to second the time needed to develop the business? Are you lacking industry contacts to help make it happen?

It is possible, but you must create a unique and compelling story to share. What makes your company special? What problems is it solving? Why would someone want to come and work with you - especially if you are pre-revenue?

Also, are you offering ownership? Is you're really looking for a Co-Founder then that's a whole different thing. If that's the case, then go to every startup event in your area and start getting involved. Go to Startup Weekends. The more you get to know the community, the more people you will meet and the potential of finding someone willing to come in and help you build it increase.

Critical thing is that if you're not a Tech Co-Founder, then you'll need to share your ideas with those with the right background to build the company - share with everyone and seek their opinions - this will endear you to the right people!

Reviews

Tara was extremely helpful during our call. She understood the gist of my business in a heartbeat and provided a lot of helpful tips that I should be doing to be more successful. I highly recommend her especially if you are working on a startup in the recruiting space.

Tara took her job very seriously. She worked very long hours to make sure that she contacted everyone who was interested in Tri Counties Bank. She also made contact with all the branch managers to ensure that they were fully staffed. If you want a dependable, caring person Tara is the one you want to hire.

I worked closely with Tara for many months at Tri Counties Bank. Tara was a delight to work with. She was very thorough, and always followed up with me. She was an asset to the bank, and I we were very sorry to see her go.

I was recruited by Tara for my current position with PacifiCom. She was fantastic to work with throughout the interview process and continued to be a support after I was hired. Tara is very organized and thorough. She is definitely an expert in her field. Tara would be an asset to any company looking to find the right person for the job.

As a candidate I can see how any company would be lucky to have Tara among their ranks for their recruiting needs. Tara quickly and accurately assessed my skills and laid out for me what her partner startup company was in need of. Tara represented her client with great enthusiasm and is very in tune with the needs of any startup that is to be successful. As our conversation continued it became clear my skills were not of those required of her current client. However, having already gauged my career goals and objectives Tara went above and beyond to share with me some very insightful recommendations. Today, I have already begun to take action on many of them and I look forward to the day our professional paths cross again.

Tara has been great to work with. She understands the recruitment process well, and moved things forward quickly and confidently. With a sharp eye for the appropriate levels of experience and cultural fit, she screened candidates and passed along only the best matches for my review.

Tara and her team was a valuable asset when looking to hire new software developers to our company. They identified talent that suited our team, ensured they were a good fit and got them signed all within our timelines.